Vladislav Artemiev: "I Spend on Openings More Time Than I Would Like To"

Е.SUROV: It's September 12th, we are in Baku and Vladislav Artemiev is here with me. He is delighted since he advanced to the next round of the FIDE World Cup. Tell us if you have set any specific task when arrived here in Azerbaijan?

V.ARTEMIEV: I arrived with the hope to pass through at least two rounds. Besides, when you are out from the very first round the impressions on the tournament are not the best, so you definitely want to go as far as possible.

E.SUROV: You had a strong opponent GM Ganguly in the first round, nonetheless you crushed him in the very first classical game! Tell us how did you manage that?

V.ARTEMIEV: Surya surprised me a lot in the opening, as I didn't expect him playing Queen's Indian Defence. I proceeded with a rather dubious pawn sacrifice - if putting it objectively. Ganguly had some decent continuations as options, but it seems he just got confused. More specifically, he could reply with 16...b4 on my 16.a4 and Black is better. But he lost the thread pretty quickly which made the game a bit "crumpled".

E.SUROV: What about the return game? How hard was to maintain a point advantage?

V.ARTEMIEV: Well, today's game was incredibly tough! I sort of again failed to guess the opening but I still managed to gradually grab the initiative. I think I was winning more than once throughout the game, but I am happy with the draw too.

E.SUROV: Regarding the openings. I remember in one of our early interviews you said you are almost not spending any time on the openings. Has anything changed since then?

V.ARTEMIEV: I still try to lead the game into the middle and the endgame, but now I spend much more time on the openings. Actually more than I would like to.

V.ARTEMIEV: During this tournament I am only consulting with Pavel Maletin.

E.SUROV: What are your impressions on the city and the organisation of the tournament? Is it your first time here?

V.ARTEMIEV: Baku is a wonderful city! It's not my first time here. I have been here twice but I have never lived in the very center of the city before. The scale and speed with which the skyscrapers are built are impressive! The tournament organisation is also good, everything is on a top level - the hall, the hotel. I hope to stay here a little longer.

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